Flotsam & Jetsam
Your letters and such...
About John Nystrom’s article From Denver to Mexico in a Coracle, reader Rick Pratt writes: Crazy but neat. We watched these strange boats in use in the Irish Sea and were pretty amazed at their seaworthiness. Good article, thanks.
Friend and contributor John Kohnen had a couple of stellar photos to share that just missed our Small Boat Photo Blasts:
These shots of Steve Molin’s Bolger Dovekie on a breezy Fern Ridge Reservoir after the Coots’ Spring Messabout picnic (and Triton Yacht Club Derring-Do Dinghy Dash) this last May may be worth showing:
We also received these lovely memories from author Ida Little:
These go back to the 1970s when we were in our second year of cruising in the Bahamas. We sailed the Hobie Cat towing an Old Town canoe with camping gear. We sailed the canoe alone for short trips from camp. The good life.
Those of you who’ve been following our articles on the Hideaway houseboat might be interested in these follow-up notes from owner Chelcie Liu:
The picture below shows HIDEAWAY’s current stern. Only the depth sounder under the new boarding ladder was on her when she was launched. The original long shaft prototype ION 6 electric outboard has been replaced with an extra long shaft production model with an anti-ventilation plate. The new rudder on the port side is mechanically linked to the ION 6 outboard. The addition of this rudder not only improves steering over just using the outboard, it allows her to be steered even if the outboard is not running, as long as she is moving fast enough. The added stainless safety bar across the top of the outboard cutout improves the security for people in the stern cockpit. Instead of making a custom bar, Kees found a standard stainless grab rail that would work. Instead of removing the unnecessary central support, he attached a flagpole holder to it.
These two photos show the growth on HIDEAWAY’s bottom when hauled out October 30th, about seven seven months after being launched with a cleaned bottom. This was her second extended time in the water after launching. When painting her bottom, two coats of Interlux InterProtect 2000E primer were applied. After the primer, three coats (1 Gallon) of Interlux Baltoplate antifouling racing bottom paint were applied. Since this paint is used on trailered racing sailboats, we felt it was a good choice for HIDEAWAY.
One feature of HIDEAWAY’s bow that people often ask about is why she has two bow eyes shown in the photo below. When the top bow eye was mounted, it was placed in such a position that it would pull the bow down when the trailer winch was tightened. This placement was chosen so the boat/trailer combination would be a more rigid structure when towing the boat. However, this location made it harder to pull the boat on the trailer from the water. In order to pull the boat tight against the bow stop, the trailer had be backed deeper into the water. To make it easier to pull her on the trailer from the water, a second, lower bow eye was mounted. When the trailer winch is attached to this bow eye, it tends to lift the bow as she is being loaded on the trailer
We received a nice thank you note and photos from SCAMP builder Milos Milner who wrote Built in the Village Stable:
Thank you very much for the article. A year ago I was inspired by similar photos myself. Our small boat Scamp Belí 3.6m replaced the large Nelina 9.5m, which we could no longer operate.
Greetings ,
Miloš and family
•SCA•
With this rig one would not likely be bothered by bow spray but would likely need a boarding ladder.
Now if it had a sail . . . and a long-shaft (REAL long-shaft) Hobie Mirage Drive...